Thursday, February 28, 2008

So, its been awhile since I last blogged. Lately, I've been into old school cool Jap cars. Now, the history of Japanese cars in the USA began in the late 60's. At first, they were considered cheap, small, questionable quality and not cool. My how times have changed. Well, those times began to change when in the early 70's the smog laws started to put the smackdown on Detroit muscle. Cars like the camaro and mustang started losing power and looks and gaining weight and size. Only in the early 90's did the Camaro and Mustang start making its comeback. Well, sorry Detroit, but that's 20+ years of losing market share. Now, Toyota has taken over as largest auto manufacturer in the USA over GM.

Anyway, in the early 70's, Nissan (known as Datsun originally) came out with the 240Z (Fairlady Z in Japan) and the 510 sedan. These cars began to race in the road races and winning. Toyota came out with the Corolla and Celica and also raced. Mazda was there with its rotary powered coupes and sedans as well. Here's a few pics representing what modified versions look like today, some 20-35 years later.

What I like about these cars: Lightweight, rear wheel drive, 13 and 14 inch wheels under bolt on fender flares and lowered and tunability and motor swaps with higher tech 80's 4 and 6 cylinder engines.